The present invention relates to a chemical reaction apparatus and a method of collecting a main product gas, and more specifically to a chemical reaction apparatus which can enhance the reactivity of a main product gas, by removing carbon dioxide out of the system, while making a raw material gas react to produce the main product gas and carbon dioxide as a byproduct gas, and a method of collecting such a main product gas.
In many of the chemical industrial processes, the reactivity is as low as several tens of percentage due to the limitations of the reactive temperature and the chemical equilibrium. For example, in a chemical process for generating hydrogen and carbon dioxide from a reaction between carbon monoxide and water at a temperature of 400.degree. C. or more, and collecting hydrogen as main product, as carbon dioxide is being eliminated from the reaction site, the chemical equilibrium is shifted to the hydrogen producing side. Consequently, the reactivity of hydrogen is enhanced.
In connection with such a reaction system, studies have been made to selectively separate and remove carbon dioxide. For example, the separation of carbon dioxide generated in a reaction system, with use of a polymer film such as of cellulose acetate or a ceramic film such as of alumina, has been considered.
However, with the polymer film, the temperature of the gas to be processed, is limited to be lower than about 200.degree. C., and therefore it is practically difficult to apply such a film to the reaction system for collecting hydrogen at a temperature of 400.degree. C. or more. In the case of the ceramic film, since the separation rate for carbon dioxide is low, it is difficult to shift the chemical equilibrium effectively to the hydrogen generating side when producing hydrogen and carbon dioxide.